Comments on: Waves

By: No new media triumphalism here…

No new media triumphalism here… — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:24:19 +0000

[...] future for higher education. Such crises might hit the academy in a nearer-term future than even those of us with apocalyptic temperaments might [...]

By: So it is, so shall it ever be…

So it is, so shall it ever be… — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:06:17 +0000

[...] I’ve been known to indulge in heaping helpings of hyperbolic speculation spiced with apocalyptic flavours. I can’t help myself, when I observe something like the meltdown of a cultural industry, my [...]

By: The Upside of Down

The Upside of Down — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:42:35 +0000

[...] my recent post riffing on Waves seemed unduly alarmist (and I worried that it was, until I picked up my newspaper), you might want [...]

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 07:55:56 +0000

@Leigh:

Wow…that takes this analogy to yet another level, beautiful!

By: D'Arcy Norman

D'Arcy Norman — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 05:17:53 +0000

so that’s how it goes. look for the sets, paddle hard, and try to hold the sweet spot. or get ground into the reef below…

By: Leigh Blackall

Leigh Blackall — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:36:48 +0000

Hey Blamb, great post, great analogy. You know, in a warmer climate I was a very keen body surfer. Fancied myself a big wave body surfer and had a bit of a rep in the local town too. So while I can’t extend as much as I’d like on MacLuhan, I can help call that big mutherfucker for ya.

Did you notice that the big ones come in sets? We called them sets anyway, and the only thing to do when a set was spotted (the earlier the better) was assess where you where in comparison to the break zone.. will a swift paddle out, left or right get you under, over or around the first one, and do you think the others in that set are gunna be bigger again and so swimming out commits you to a terrible fate.. or should you hold back, turn to shore even and take a lesser pounding – but a pounding non-the-less, and multiple times.

I don’t recall ever turning for shore actually. I just grit the teeth, swallowed the fear and swam into the brute. Often I’d get munched, more then once, but so long as I dove deep enough I would get under the sucker and pop up the other side ready to duck dive the next one. Eventually I’d be out there, where its calm and big, ready, waiting for my turn to ride such a beast!

Once on a big bugga, its important to stay inside. Better to ride into the pit than to attempt to exit in front. Inside that nastey tube is actually a zone of pure peace. There is little room for error, but if you find it you will not be minced, but instead you will meet a stillness that is often confused for a moment of death. But what it is is in fact the wave’s centre, where all the energy meets at that point, and you will be held for a moment while the rest of the wave passes over you. We called that the sweet spot.

By: Gardner

Gardner — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:23:03 +0000

I’m a cork on the ocean
Floating over the raging seas
How deep is the ocean?
How deep is the ocean?

B. Wilson

By: D'Arcy Norman

D'Arcy Norman — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:39:43 +0000

but… there are no winners this time. except, maybe, the cockroaches…

By: superNova K

superNova K — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:16:23 +0000

So what do comrades do today?
It seems that in the past, there was always a movement that had some anti-weight to challenge the main trends. What is it today? Who are the new heroes?
It is not hybrid cars, latte-drinking socially-networked folks nor Bono’s protests.
Should we all just declare the capitulation, raise the glass, and salute the winners?

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:05:12 +0000

Thanks guys, you make me feel a little less insane with your support and riffage. As Alec writes, having good people around you makes the bad times a lot easier to take…